Reading in bed

Opening at the Hay Festival, and ending with the prospect of a spring wedding, Sue Gee's new novel is a lively story of tangled relationships and the sustaining powers of good books, loyal friends and conversation. Georgia, a former teacher, finds days in her Islington flat unbearably long as she grieves for her husband and frets about her flightly daughter, Chloe, who has fallen for a married man. Dido, Georgia's best friend up in Yorkshire, has her faith in her marriage shattered when she reads one of her husband's text messages. Already preoccupied by her son's unhappiness in love, she is also beginning to realise that the dizzy spells she is experiencing might have a serious cause. Both women are facing some of life's most difficult moments- yet their friendship, the love they have experienced, their passion for reading and their fierce commitment to engaging with the world around them see them rise to the challenge on fighting form.